Akita Rescue of Western NY, Inc. is a non-profit, charity organization that covers the northeast USA. ARWNY helps with saving & rehoming Akitas in need, as well as offering advice with health, nutrition, temperament and training of Akitas everywhere! Of course, we don't take the place of great vets or wonderful trainers/behaviorists but we are willing to help in any way we can!

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Good people...

Recently on the AKITA FORUM, an Akita owner that I helped with some information and direction for his Akita Ridley, wanted to do something nice for our rescue ARWNY, as a way of thanking me. So Sean issued a challenge to the whole group. He said he would match donations made to ARWNY up to $500 in the name of Ben, the blind Akita we have that is need of an operation to have his eyes removed.

It was a superbly generous offer, considering all Sean has spent on trying to get his own Akita, Ridley, healthy. Yet he made the offer, in this day and age of financial instability. And the group came through!! We had $520 donated by others in the group. Sean then matched that with his $500. That's an amazing amount of money raised by someone making a challenge.

Its because of people like Sean, and members of the Akita Forum, that ARWNY can continue to do the work we do. Helping a worthy Akita like Ben is what our rescue is all about. Its not about saving only the young, healthy and easy-to-place Akitas. Its about helping the worthy Akitas no matter what the age, as long as we can make them healthy again for rehoming. The Akitas like Ben, who are mistreated yet still remain loyal to humans. Who are denied vet care and suffer, yet still reach out to humans with a happy tail wag and a kiss. Who are locked away in cages without ever knowing what its like to sleep on a soft bed, yet still follow a human happily on the end of the leash once they come to rescue. This is who we do rescue for.

And its because of Sean and the members of the Akita Forum, that we can continue to do it.

If you want to read about Ben's story, go to our website at http://www.akitarescuewny.com and you'll find it on our homepage.

I doubt we will have a chance for that -- with the picnic, the Nationals, my & Nancy's upcoming surgeries and rehabs, Nancy's house being sold, etc I think we will have to be thankful to Sean for the Challenge and those funds and will work it out from there. But thanks for asking!!

About ARWNY and a bit about me

Nancy Lamm & Lynny Benzinger helped start ARWNY way back in 1996 but both were doing rescue since the late 70s; I started doing Akita Rescue in '86 first w/ ARSA, then w/ DVAR.
Joining ARWNY in '99 as VP/Director, I helped to expand ARWNY's territory over the next few yrs, from covering Western NY to almost the entire NE USA with the help of many wonderful volunteers! Over the years, I have watched the idea of rescue grow from a small, little-known concept to a source of pride & achievement within the Akita community; I'm proud to have been a part of this growth. I learned how to do rescue correctly by helping & volunteering, taking advice from fellow rescuers in Akitas & other breeds, as well as learning everything I could from wonderful Akita breeders & show people along the way.
I am proud of the work we do in ARWNY -- we have wonderful volunteers & supporters so it makes our work meaningful in so many ways!!
I currently reside w/my daughter Jenn, who is also part of ARWNY, & our newest adopted Akita Zeus, who came to us when our beloved BaeBae went "over the Rainbow Bridge" recently.

Video For JuJu & all abused Akitas

ARWNY ADOPTER VIDEO

ARWNY PICNIC VIDEO

Akita Club of America National Show

Some of our great adopters at the ACA Parade!

WELCOME TO ARWNY'S BLOG!!

Hopefully you will find this blog helpful in understanding the work rescue does in saving Akitas. The joy, the heartbreak, the decisions we all have to make when trying to save the lives of Akitas in peril. My hope is that you will realize how much time & effort goes into saving even just one Akita, let alone the many that ARWNY does save. Its wonderfully rewarding work but filled with heartbreak & dispair when we don't have room to help save Akitas in need or get involved with a puppymill situation, or take in a very ill, sick Akita like Wish, like Ben. We realize we can't save them all -- but we hope by reading this blog, you will all realize that we do a tremendous amount of work in saving those we are able to rescue!!